Today, you will understand the importance of self talk for entrepreneurs, and how it can improve your life as an entrepreneur and bring you massive success. In our previous article, we highlight the importance of self-talk as an essential selling skill.

There were once two amateur runners, Emeka and Femi. These two men were about the same age, height, and the same build. They both had the same dream to place in the top 200 in a marathon race that attracted thousands of participants each year. 

Interestingly, both had a faulty running stride. Both went to a clinic a couple of months before the marathon to get expert advice on improving their stride. A coach pointed out their weaknesses and told them to correct their problem. And now the similarities between the story of these two men end.

Emeka visualized himself running and cast himself under his breath for running like a duck. He vowed to correct his stride even if it killed him.

Femi, on the other hand, didn’t get upset. He was pleased to get the information and began concentrating on correcting his stride. He began visualizing the correct stride, and each time before he ran, he would spend some time correctly imagining it.

At first, his time dropped, but he didn’t get discouraged. He told himself he was learning how to use his muscles differently. After three weeks of practice, positive self-talk, and visualizing the positive, Femi’s time was faster than ever.

Emeka continued to practice every day. He told himself, don’t run like a duck. But every day, he continued to run like a duck. Eventually, he began to sustain minor injuries. At one point, his ankle bothered him so much that he had to stop training for a week.

Gradually, he started running again. But now, he was worried about injuries, and all he wanted to do was finish the race. On the day of the race, Femi kept up his positive self-talk, visualized his correct running stride and a successful race, and finished eighty-eight.

He congratulated himself and set a new goal for the next year, finishing in the top fifty. Emeka, on the other hand, kept admonishing himself to try harder.

And indeed, he did try very hard. But he couldn’t change his stride. Stop running like a duck, you idiot, he told himself. But eventually, his injuries got the better of him, and he had to drop out of the race before the finish line.

Emeka was bitter about his misfortune and told himself, That’s it, you’re running. Days are over. Both men had sought counsel about improving their running performance.

Both men use self-talk after they get their advice. 

• How did they differ in how they used that information?
• Are there any lessons to be learned from this story?

Please take notes for yourself as an entrepreneur. Two of your most valuable assets are your attitudes and your emotions. Whether you make or lose a potential sale often depends on how you manage these assets.

By engaging in positive self-talk, you can master these assets and be in charge of yourself at every stage of the sale.

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